The Materials Research Society's Symposium EE, entitled 'Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXXVIII', was held from 30 November to 5 December 2014, at the MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. The symposium discussed the key scientific challenges for the safe and effective management of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste and provided an overview of the international research and waste management programs around the world. Waste forms and engineered barrier system properties, interactions between engineered and geological systems, radiation effects, chemistry and transport of radionuclides, and long-term predictions of repository performance were just some of the topics presented at the symposium by internationally renowned speakers and leading researchers in the field. The symposium attracted 85 abstracts. This proceedings volume contains 31 papers from the meeting.